Serena books ticket to 10th Wimbledon final

The 21-year-old had not dropped a set on her way to becoming the first Latvian woman to reach the Wimbledon semis, but self-destructed against Kerber in an error-strewn 6-3 6-3 defeat.

"It's insane to even know how I feel because I literally didn't expect to do this well in my fourth tournament back", Williams said.

"I think the Centre Court is much slower than the other courts I played on before", the 12th seed said. "I had a really tough delivery and I had to have multiple surgeries and almost didn't make it when I gave birth", the champion said.

"[But] Every time I go out there, I want to I guess take a giant step forward, keep taking giant steps, but keep improving".

Williams is not one for doing things quietly during a career that has earned her 23 Grand Slam titles, four Olympic gold medals and more than $85 million dollars in prize money.

But at this unusual stage, the chase for No.24 seems secondary to Williams simply being back in sparkling form so soon after her delivery and medical problems.

But 30-year-old Kerber, seeded 11th, will not walk on as a mere prop for another Williams milestone.

"I don't know if it's been the toughest, because I have Olympia". I don't know because the body's holding up and the desire is there. I want to get as many as I can, starting with - I still have a match to win, so I'm not even there yet'. "Everything was faster. For Venus it was a big advantage a year ago", she said.

Williams previously wrote about her traumatic birth in an article for CNN, "I nearly died after giving birth to my daughter, Olympia", she wrote.

Turning 37 in September and already the oldest women's major champion of the 50-year open era, Williams also has the opportunity to become the first mother to hoist the Wimbledon trophy since Court's fellow Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.

Kerber's road to her first major final since winning the US Open has proven just that.

Tennis fans have been desperate to see the new Duchess of Sussex at Wimbledon - and now she's set to make her royal debut at SW19 on a double date with Kate.

When her big bombs did hit the mark they drew gasps from the crowd - but they were few and far between.

She was bed-ridden for 6 weeks and only returned to the tour in March. In the week leading up to her first-round match against Viktoriya Tomova, Williams posted a daily countdown on Instagram that included flashback Wimbledon photos and uplifting sentiments.

Following another two months away from competition, she entered the French Open in late May, and won three matches before pulling out before the fourth round because of an injured pectoral muscle.